Women better represented in Victorian novels than modern, finds study

Analysis finds proportion of female authors and characters fell after 19th century, with male authors remaining ‘remarkably resistant’ to writing women Women in novels have tended to “feel”, while men “get”; women smile or laugh, while men grin or chuckle. An analysis of more than 100,000 novels spanning more than 200 years shows how gendered even seemingly innocuous words can be – as well as revealing an unexpected decline in the proportion of female novelists from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.Academics from the universities of Illinois and California at Berkeley used an algorithm to examine 104,000 works of fiction dating from 1780 to 2007, drawn mostly from HathiTrust Digital Library. The algorithm identified both author and character genders. The academics expected to see an increase in the prominence of female characters in literature across the two centuries. Instead, “from the 19th century through the early 1960s we see a story of steady decline,” write Ted Underwood, David Bamman and Sabrina Lee in their paper The Transformation of Gender in English-Language Fiction, which has just been published in the Journal of Cultural Analytics.No one has been willing to advance the dismal suggestion that the whole story from 1800 to 1960 was a story of declineOn average, men remain remarkably resistant to giving women more than a third of the character-space in their stories Related: Pushing back: why it's time for women to rewrite the story Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #early 1960s #steady decline #english-language fiction #stories related #pushing back

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Women better represented in Victorian novels than modern, finds study'

Women better represented in Victorian novels than modern, finds study

[ The Guardian | 2018-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #early 1960s #steady decline #english-language fiction #stories related #pushing back

A Graphic Novel Finds a Relatable Hero in a Modern African Woman

The “Aya” series explores the pains and pleasures of everyday life in a working-class neighborhood in West Africa. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-02-10 10:02:39 UTC ]
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Books by women priced 45% lower, study finds

Analysis of more than 2m titles shows that on average, male authors’ work is strikingly better valuedA study of more than 2m books has revealed that titles by female authors are on average sold at just over half the price of those written by men. The research, by sociologist Dana Beth Weinberg... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books about women less likely to win prizes, study finds

Study of six major awards in the last 15 years shows male subjects the predominant focus of winning novels• How well do you know fiction’s female protagonists - quizAnalysis of the last 15 years of winners of six major literary awards by the critically acclaimed author Nicola Griffith has found... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading Harris novel stimulates brain, finds study

Reading a novel stimulates the brain for days, US researchers have found. The study,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Half of women over 40 say older women in fiction are clichés, survey finds

Fifty-one percent of women over 40 feel older women in fiction books tend to fall into clichéd roles, according to a new survey. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-27 07:03:41 UTC ]
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3 New Debut Novels by Black Women Authors

Three Black women novelists make their debut with tales of inheritance, friendship, and alternate futures. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Modern Library’s Torchbearers Series to Reissue Elaine Kraf Novels

The Modern Library Torchbearers series, which spotlights women writers throughout history, will reissue four novels by Elaine Kraf, which were originally published between 1969 and 1979. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Pink Dystopia: Gabrielle Korn on How a Decade in Women’s Media Inspired Her Novel

Science fiction made me want to be a writer. As a child in the ‘90s I read Interstellar Pig because my older sister loved it, and that’s when it started—a lifelong obsession with alternate universes, aliens, time travel, dystopia; a compulsion to read and eventually tell stories to make sense of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-12 09:52:39 UTC ]
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Study Up on Campus Novels: A Back-to-School-Inspired Reading List for Grown-Ups

These campus novels for adults raise questions around race, class, or gender or are simply set in or around campuses, including Real Life by Brandon Taylor. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-21 10:33:00 UTC ]
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These are the Most Assigned Novels by Women in U.S. Colleges

In an analysis of 300,000 English Literature syllabi, these are the novels by women authors that were the most commonly assigned. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-07-25 13:22:28 UTC ]
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Fabio (yes, Fabio) thinks the portrayal of men in modern romance novels is “hogwash.”

Oh dear. Earlier this month, Publishers Weekly reported on romance readers’ increased appetite for books with “cinnamon rolls” and “golden retrievers” as their leading men—categories that are exactly what they sound like: “sweet, supportive, and kind” (CR) and possessed of “a warm, floppy energy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-22 14:24:03 UTC ]
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Black creators drive higher media value for marketers, study finds

A new report from Group Black and Nielsen reveals Black creators have larger and more engaged followings than their non-Black peers. Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2023-06-13 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Three debut novels compete among Women’s prize for fiction shortlist

First-time novelists are joined by two former winners on the diverse list, as the six ‘ambitious and hard-hitting’ contenders are revealed• ‘We were blown away’: how we chose the Women’s prize shortlistThree debut novels will compete against books by two former winners for this year’s Women’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-26 06:30:01 UTC ]
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An unruly women’s club that pointed the way to modern feminism

The Heterodoxy club of the early 1900s was made up of mostly college-educated women who debated radical ideas and lived radical lives. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-08 12:00:27 UTC ]
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2 Literary Novels Find the Poetry in Animal Rescue

A Nobel laureate and a future publisher play major roles in Margarita Engle’s “Singing With Elephants” and Michael Morpurgo’s “The Puffin Keeper.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-06-03 04:06:53 UTC ]
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7 Novels About the Theatre Set in Victorian London

The theatre is a perennially popular setting for novelists and no wonder. The tawdry glamour and sense of spectacle make it a rich gift for any author, but it’s what happens behind the scenes that I find the most interesting. This is particularly true for those novels set on the 19th-century... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-14 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Many Americans distrust emerging technology, new study finds

For more than a century, popular science fiction has promised us a future filled with robotics and AI technologies. In 2022, many of those dreams are being realized — computers recognize us on sight and cars can drive themselves, we’re building intelligent exoskeletons that multiply our strength... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-03-31 17:00:38 UTC ]
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For Women’s History Month: 5 new novels that celebrate female accomplishments

‘The Paris Bookseller’ by Kerri Maher and ‘The Diamond Eye’ by Kate Quinn are among several great new works of historical fiction. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-03-02 15:27:34 UTC ]
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